The animal feed sector, milling, malting, biofuels sectors and British Sugar account for around 95% of the market demand for combinable crops. Red Tractor delivers a clear and consistent industry benchmark, and stakeholders have been voicing their support for the benefits of a single set of standards for the sector and the market access that this offers to farmers.

Joe Brennan, UK Flour Millers Technical Manager said ‘The Red Tractor crops scheme is well understood and has excellent compliance rates. Unlike in other countries, the scheme is developed with significant farmer input, ensuring it reflects real farm practice.’ He added ’If a farmer wishes to sell unassured grain to a UK flour mill, they will need to provide agrochemical and mycotoxin test results for at least every 200 tonnes of grain drawn from the same bulk, at their own expense. This is clearly a less efficient means of providing assurance and it is no wonder that Red Tractor is well supported by processors.’

British Sugar believes that by working with Red Tractor, they are driving sustainable agriculture that promotes best practice, embraces creating a quality product and ensures safety in the efficient production of sugar beet. The recent confirmation that the crops scheme has retained its Silver benchmark from SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment, is critical to this relationship.

Nick Morris, Head of Agriculture at British Sugar said: ‘We have worked closely with Red Tractor and SAI Platform to support the benchmarking process. SAI Platform is used by several of our large customers as part of their buying specifications. This is great news for our sugar beet growers – all of whom are Red Tractor assured – as it means their high standards of production are recognised by both without additional audits and assessments, and we can continue to market their products globally.’

Angela Bowden, Secretary General at SCOPA said ‘SCOPA has been involved with Red Tractor assurance since its inception and values the role of their standards in providing a simple scheme for suppliers to meet the safety and environmental demands of the market. All domestic oilseed rape bought by SCOPA crushers is Red Tractor assured and our preference will always be for UK produced seed when this is available.’

Brin Hughes, representing BOBMA said ‘BOBMA recognises the importance of Red Tractor Standards in providing a robust scheme that balances grower input with industry requirements for safety, traceability and sustainability.’

The Red Tractor logo is used by major food companies who recognise the value it adds to their brand. YouGov research regularly reveals that most British primary shoppers know about Red Tractor and trust the logo.

By demonstrating good compliance with Red Tractor standards you are meeting the requirements of partner agencies, UK regulators and industry voluntary initiatives. As a result, you are rewarded with less frequent enforcement inspections. This ‘earned recognition’ is an important and little understood way in which we support you.

How is Red Tractor eligible for earned recognition agreements?  

Red Tractor uses independent Certification Bodies to manage the day-to-day running the of sector schemes and carry out assessments against our standards on our behalf so we don’t mark our own homework. In addition, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) assesses all our certification bodies to ISO 17065, which means that their performance is monitored through annual office inspections and shadow audits. They also make sure that any changes we make to our standards are fully auditable. With all this in place, it means that the Red Tractor scheme meets the necessary requirements for earned recognition arrangements with regulators.  

Why don’t all food and farming schemes have this arrangement?  

This system only works if regulators are confident the scheme is robust and worthy of recognition. All parties must be trusted and must work together to ensure audits are meaningful- and that the scheme can demonstrate that it covers legal requirements and can share aggregated scheme data performance- We never share individual farm assessment data.  

What does it mean for me?  

When it works well, it is good for everyone involved and is a hidden benefit for you. It means fewer non-Red Tractor inspections than you would have otherwise had. It also means that regulators and enforcement bodies can focus their resources on farms where the level of legal compliance is unknown. These farms can pose a significant threat to the reputation of British Agriculture which in turn means the reputation of your business.  

View from a regulator  

A FSA representative said, “We are pleased to be working closely with Red Tractor to provide assurance that food carrying the logo is safe and is what it says it is. The arrangements we have in place for approving assurance schemes, and for ongoing data sharing, mean that members of these schemes benefit by having fewer inspections from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and local authorities.”  

View from a farmer 

A West Sussex Dairy Farmer “I’ve been a dairy farmer for more than30 years, and still remember the bi–annual Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate visit. Being Red Tractor assured means that today there is only one of these inspections every decade.” 

Other earned recognition partnerships.  

Earned recognition also applies in other areas where you are exempt from having to jump through additional hoops to access markets or to prove good farming practice. Registering as a recognised scheme for the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), is a streamlined approach to ensuring that crops and sugar beet members are automatically granted free access to the growing biofuels markets in the UK and across Europe – reducing bureaucracy, costs, and inspections.  

The Voluntary Initiative (VI) promotes the responsible use of pesticides and Red Tractor is key to helping the industry delivering this. By incorporating these goals within Red Tractor standards, we provide a verification that you are adopting Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plans and principles, lessening the likelihood of increased regulation.

The Farm Safety Foundation has developed a new tool that allows members to ensure their policy accurately reflects their farm make-up and activities, and the format allows those responsible to make amends as their business changes and grows. The format also supports communication, understanding and adoption of practices, to ensure on-site health and safety is available to all. Having an active Health & Safety policy is a must for all Red Tractor assured farms, as it encourages farm owners to think about potential risks and how to manage them.

The tool is free to use and can be accessed on the Yellow Wellies website.

This month Red Tractor will be celebrating the coronation of King Charles III, who has been a lifelong champion of the British countryside, farming and food standards. To mark the occasion, we have created a bunting-clad animation of a coronation street party with characters from our new advert. Like them, we will be joining millions of Brits to celebrate the best that Britain has to offer. And most importantly, we will be baking lots of cakes with Great British ingredients from Red Tractor farmers.